According to a 2001 survey on the health of the Māori language, the number of very fluent adult speakers was about 9% of the Māori population, or 30,000 adults. A national census undertaken in 2006 says that about 4% of the New Zealand population, or 23.7% of the Maori population could hold a conversation in Maori about everyday things.

Name

The English word comes from the Maori language, where it is spelled "Māori". In New Zealand the Maori language is commonly referred to as Te Reo[tɛ ˈɾɛ.ɔ] "the language", short for te reo Māori.

The spelling "Maori" (without macron) is standard in English outside New Zealand in both general and linguistic usage. The Maori-language spelling "Māori" (with macron) has become common in New Zealand English in recent years, particularly in Maori-specific cultural contexts, although the traditional English spelling is still prevalent in general media and government use.

Māori people

The Māori (Māori pronunciation:[ˈmaːɔɾi], listen; Eng. pron.[ˈmaʊri]; N.Z. Eng.[ˈmaori], [ˈmæuri], [ˈmari], [ˈmɒəri]) are the indigenousPolynesian people of New Zealand. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages at some time between 1250 and 1300CE. Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture that became known as the "Māori", with their own language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups, based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Horticulture flourished using plants they introduced, and later a prominent warrior culture emerged.

The arrival of Europeans to New Zealand starting from the 17th century brought enormous change to the Māori way of life. Māori people gradually adopted many aspects of Western society and culture. Initial relations between Māori and Europeans were largely amicable, and with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted as part of a new British colony. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s. Social upheaval, decades of conflict and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which went into a dramatic decline. But, by the start of the 20th century, the Māori population had begun to recover, and efforts have been made to increase their standing in wider New Zealand society and achieve social justice. Traditional Māori culture has enjoyed a revival, and a protest movement emerged in the 1960s advocating Māori issues.

History

Neolithic hunters, including the members of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture of Romania and Ukraine (ca. 5500-2750 BC), used traps to capture their prey. A passage from the self-titled book by Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi describes Chinese methods used for trapping animals during the 4th century BC. The Zhuangzi reads, "The sleek-furred fox and the elegantly spotted leopard...can't seem to escape the disaster of nets and traps.” "Modern" steel jaw-traps were first described in western sources as early as the late 16th century. The first mention comes from Leonard Mascall's book on animal trapping. It reads, "a griping trappe made all of yrne, the lowest barre, and the ring or hoope with two clickets."[sic] The mousetrap, with a strong spring device spring mounted on a wooden base, was first patented by William C. Hooker of Abingdon, Illinois, in 1894.

Pick and roll

The pick and roll (also called screen and roll or shortened to screen roll, any of which may be hyphenated) in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then slips behind the defender (rolls) to accept a pass. In the NBA, the play came into vogue in the 1990s and has developed into the league's "bread and butter".

Execution

The play begins with a defender guarding a ballhandler. The ballhandler moves toward a teammate, who sets a "screen" (or "pick") by standing in the way of the defender, who is separated from the moving ballhandler. The defender is forced to choose between guarding the ballhandler or the screener. If the defender tries to guard the ballhandler, then the screener can move toward the basket (as the man marking the screener may try to trap or mark the ballhandler, giving the screener space) sometimes by a foot pivot ("roll"), and is now open for a pass. If the defender chooses instead to guard the screening teammate, then the ballhandler has an open shot. Alternatively, the ballhandler may pass the ball to an open teammate. A well-executed pick and roll is the result of teamwork.

Latest News for: Maori trapping

A percentage of our tour fees helped fund a program to trap on-site predators ... I’d just learned about Ruaumoko, the powerful and restless Maori god trapped underground (and none too happy about it), who is said to rumble about and cause volcanic eruptions and earthquakes....

Outside, Hari gathers the four of us in a circle and says a Maori prayer for our wellbeing ...Maori would dig staves into the cliffs along the river to propel their canoes upstream ... Thomas points out rocks that mark the site of eel traps where Maori once fished. For Maori, this is a sacred river and the connection runs deep....

The dangerous Ioane has faced the Lions twice already on tour, tormenting them at EdenPark for the Blues but was part of a back-three that struggled for the Maori last Saturday ... "They'll have taken a lot out of their last couple of performances against the Maori and the Chiefs," he said....

WingerJames Lowe and backrower Akira Ioane yesterday both scored two tries as the MaoriAll Blacks beat the US 54-7 to claim their 70th win over a full international team ... Ash Dixon for the Maori All Blacks shortly before halftime and Todd Clever for the US, whose only try came at the start of the second half....

WingerJames Lowe and backrower Akira Ioane both scored two tries as the New ZealandMaori rugby team beat the United States 54-7 on Saturday to claim their 70th win over a full international team ... Ash Dixon for the New Zealand Maori shortly before halftime and Todd Clever for the United States whose only try came at the start of the second half....